A Scarcely Credible Tale

The Nicklaus Schmitz family arrived in the U.S. in July of 1867. We knew that a ten-year-old daughter of the family died during the trip, what we didn't know is that 18 other people died on that voyage as well. The horrible conditions on the Giuseppe Baccareich led to an investigation. Here is the report from the British Medical Journal.

A Scarcely Credible Tale
A Statement has appeared in the public papers, which, notorious as the mismanagement of emigrant ships often is, is almost more than we can imagine to be true. An emigrant ship, Giuseppe Baccareich, left Antwerp for New York on the 20th of June. By the time she reached her destination, eighteen of the passengers were dead, and two more in a dying state. The remaining emigrants made complaint to the authorities at New York, and an official inquiry was ordered to be instituted, some of the results of which were as follows:--The passengers, 180 in number, received but 62 lb. of biscuit and 62 lb. of potatoes a day, and 148 lb. of flour and 250 lb. of peas a week. The water was kept in sperm-oil casks, the oil floating on the surface. The effect of drinking this fluid was severe diarrhea. The bread was mouldy and nasty; whole beans were taken from it by the passengers. There was neither tea nor sugar on board. The potatoes were rotten, or such as were not had sprouted. There was no doctor on board, nor medicine chest.

I discovered that the second name of the ship Giuseppe Baccareich was recorded in different places as Baccarcick, Baccarich, and Baccarick. I discovered through Lloyd's Register of Shipping that the name of the boat was later changed to the Istambool.